My cousin David was in town so we had him over and threw some lovely organic ribeyes on the grill, after giving them the customary espresso rub, along with some ramp bulbs on skewers. Meanwhile, I steamed parsnips and puréed them with truffle salt, olive oil, chives from the deck, and yogurt, and made ramp pesto with the ramp greens plus truffle oil, salt, pepper and then cooked it briefly in melted butter since the…
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Smothered chicken thighs in yogurt/pesto marinade and let sit while fennel and sweet potato, sliced, got soaked in garlic-parsley infused olive oil. All went on the grill, along with a sliced lemon, and the remaining yogurt went into a pan full of ramps (surprise!) and white wine and reduced to a sauce. Garnished with a lemon slice and fennel frond, it tasted pretty damn good with yet another Siduri 2003 Pinot Noir. Not as deep…
The first ramps of the season have arrived at the coop, so I bought a ton of them and yet went easy with them tonight; we started with Nobu-style sashimi of yellowfin tuna in a sesame-olive oil and ponzu sauce, then followed it with monkfish dusted with chardonnay smoked salt, pepper, and sesame seeds crusted up in a pan then finished in some leftover red wine with the lid on to steam through (monkfish is…
Having made a roasted acorn squash-carrot-ginger soup yesterday for lunch, I soaked some chick peas and cooked them for a couple hours with onion, fenugreek, mustard, cumin, the remaining soup, and some water to thin it out. As the peas softened, I added cubes of sweet potato, and once it was soft some chopped broccolini. Some of this mixture was Milo’s dinner, and once I removed his portion I added hot vindaloo paste, black pepper,…
Slope Cellars, our local wine store, put on a “Black Market Bistro” in a neighbor’s house featuring Coturri wine. Tony Coturri was there, and introduced all the wines as well as explaining his big-picture approach to organic growing and producing. I agree completely with his position that local trumps organic in terms of supporting viable agriculture. His wines are funky, idiosyncratic, and have a unique combination of earthy and sweet. The food and wine pairings…
The family returned today, and I went to the coop this morning in anticipation, where I found lovely fresh fava beans. Shelled, and slow-cooked with shallot, garlic, lots of fresh oregano, grape tomatoes, diced celery root and a quarter lemon, after two hours they were like butter. Milo loved them. Then I cooked up a bag of penne, and once al dente tossed with the fava beans, plus green and black olives, parsley, more garlic,…
With the family out of town, and not having eaten meat in days, I took some pork ribs and after browning them added carrot, celery root, onion, fingerling potatoes, wine, herbs, and a few kumquats. Turned down low and covered, it cooked for about an hour. Once the meat was done, I added some ume and balsamic vinegar, plus the alder smoked salt and parsley. Pulled the meat out and threw in a bit of…
Another epic meal upstate, this time all made by John: canapés of maki, roasted peppers on toast, and beets and goat cheese, then fried polenta with rosemary, burdock-porcini purée, greens, radicchio, and incredible seitan in mole. Lots of wine, too, including Thackrey’s 2003 Andromeda and 2002 Sirius, an amazing Magnum of 1993 Au Bon Climat pinot which honestly tasted like a Burgundy, then a couple of real Burgundies which I can’t remember the names of,…
Our friends Patrick and Kathleen threw an Easter brunch with tons of food and good people. The weather was perfect, so we spent most of the time on the deck and ate ourselves silly. Kathleen made incredible bread pudding, and lots of other good food, and I brought a braised lamb shoulder with pesto.
Normally I think venison is better marinated, since it has so little fat and can dry out. But I didn’t get to it, so I did a rub of salt, pepper, oregano and garlic on a venison tenderloin and seared it up in a super-hot cast iron pan. Once it was seared on all sides, I covered it and lowered the heat. Meanwhile, I lightly steamed some asparagus and made some crispy croquettes out of…